Institute of Water Supply and Environmental Protection Cracow University of Technology Krakow, ul. Warszawska 24, 31-155 Poland curriculum in natural environmental.

Institute of Water Supply and Environmental ProtectionCracow University of TechnologyKrakow, ul. Warszawska 24, 31-155 Poland

curriculum in natural environmental science, vol. 2, 2010NEAR

Freshwater (inland) wetlands

Ewa Szalinska

Krakow University of Technology, Krakow, Poland

Outline:

• What are wetlands?• Wetland classification• Types of inland wetlands• Wetlands: inland vs. coastal• Why we need inland wetlands

• Case study: St. Clair wetlands

What are wetlands?

“Areas of march, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or

temporary, with water that is static of flowing, fresh, backish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not

exceed six meters”

Convention on Wetlands, Ramsar, Iran 1971

Source: http://www.ramsar.org

Wetland classification

• Horizontal– marsh, swamp, bog, fen, etc

• Hierarchical– hydrology – i.e. tidal and non-tidal, water permanence,

directional flow of water– water chemistry – salinity, halinity, pH– vegetation – wet meadow, marsh, wooded swamp, shrub

swamp– origin – natural, man-made– soil type, landform, size, etc.

Source: Tiner 1999

Inland wetland types:• Marshes - herbaceous vegetation; open to sun; water level -

centimeters to 1 meter; can periodically dry out;

Source: http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands; Photos: E. Szalinska

Point Peele, ON, Canada Algonquin Park, ON, Canada Algonquin Park, ON, Canada

• Swamps – shady, woody plants, saturated soils or standing water;

• Bogs - acidic water, spongy peat deposits, covered by a layer of sphagnum moss; receive water mostly from precipitation;

• Fens - peat-forming wetlands, receiving nutrients from sources other than precipitation;

Wheatley Park, ON, Canada

Wetlands: inland vs. coastal

• Flood pattern – twice a day (coastal)/no changes - or seasonal (inland);

• Succession – autogenic and allogenic (inland) / mangrove expansion (coastal)

• Timescale – rapid changes (inland)/rarely static for significant period of time (coastal)

• Climate changes – water level, temperature (inland/coastal), precipitation (inland)

After: Dugan (ed.) 1993

Why we need inland wetlands?

• Water storage – flood protection• Water filtration – improving water quality• Habitat for fish, wildlife and plants • Economic benefits – fishing, harvesting

wetland-dependent species, peat • Recreation, education, research

After: Dugan (ed.) 1993

Case study:

St. Clair wetlands

Source: http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop/EFS/printinfo.pl?PHOTO=STS068-232-22

The Great Lakes (North America)

Source: http://mschaut.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/great_lakes.jpg

Huron-Erie Corridor

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lake_st_clair_landsat.jpeg

Huron-Erie Corridor

Source: http://gis.glin.net/maps/

Lake St. Clair:

- area - 1,115 km2

- average depth - 3.7 m

- max depth - 8.3 m

- average retention time - 9 days

N

N

KILOMETERS

KILOMETERS

0 20 40 60

0 2 4 6

Lake Huron

Lake Erie

Lake St. Clair

OntarioMichigan

Windsor

Detroit

Port Huron

82o35’ 82o25’

82o25’

42o40’

42o35’42o35’

42o30’U.S.

CANADA

St. C

lair

Riv

er

NorthChannel

Mid

dle

Goo

se B

ay

Muscamoot Bay

Sout

h Cha

nnel

ChenalEcarte

Channel

John

ston

Goose Lake

WALPOLE ISLAND

HARSENS ISLAND

DICKINSON ISLAND

STE. ANNE ISLAND

SQUIRREL ISLAND

BASSET ISLAND

Modern Delta Lake St. ClairPre-modern Delta

Basset

Ch

ann

elN

N

KILOMETERS

KILOMETERS

0 20 40 60

0 2 4 6

Lake Huron

Lake Erie

Lake St. Clair

OntarioMichigan

Windsor

Detroit

Port Huron

82o35’ 82o25’

82o25’

42o40’

42o35’42o35’

42o30’U.S.

CANADA

St. C

lair

Riv

er

NorthChannel

Mid

dle

Goo

se B

ay

Muscamoot Bay

Sout

h Cha

nnel

ChenalEcarte

Channel

John

ston

Goose Lake

WALPOLE ISLAND

HARSENS ISLAND

DICKINSON ISLAND

STE. ANNE ISLAND

SQUIRREL ISLAND

BASSET ISLAND

Modern Delta Lake St. ClairPre-modern Delta

Basset

Ch

ann

elNN

NN

KILOMETERS

KILOMETERS

0 20 40 60

0 2 4 6

Lake Huron

Lake Erie

Lake St. Clair

OntarioMichigan

Windsor

Detroit

Port Huron

82o35’ 82o25’

82o25’

42o40’

42o35’42o35’

42o30’U.S.

CANADA

St. C

lair

Riv

er

NorthChannel

Mid

dle

Goo

se B

ay

Muscamoot Bay

Sout

h Cha

nnel

ChenalEcarte

Channel

John

ston

Goose Lake

WALPOLE ISLAND

HARSENS ISLAND

DICKINSON ISLAND

STE. ANNE ISLAND

SQUIRREL ISLAND

BASSET ISLAND

Modern Delta Lake St. ClairPre-modern Delta

Basset

Ch

ann

el

Source: Thomas et al. 2006

St. Clair Delta formation:

- pre-modern delta – 3,500-5,000 yrs. BC

- modern delta – 3,500 yrs. BC until present

- 7 active channels – average 11 m depth

- “burrowing” delta formation

- area – 80 km2 (36 km2 freshly emergent wetlands)

Source: http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/QuickView.pl?directory=ISD&ID=ISS002-377-26

Changes in the land use pattern:

- until 1800 – mostly swamps

- intense draining and development after 1850 (loss of 5,250 ha of wetlands)

- currently: agriculture and residential use

Remaining wetlands:

- Chatham Flats (St. Clair National Wildlife Area)

- St. Clair Delta (Walpole Island and St. Clair Flats)

Chatham Flats

Walpole Island

St. Clair Flats

Source: http://www.michigandnr.com/publications/pdfs/huntingwildlifehabitat/sga/stclairflats.pdf

Ramsar site: 4CA016

St. Clair National Wildlife Area

St. Clair wetland habitat and biodiversity

• Breeding habitat for wetland birds;• Habitat for more than 65 species of fish;• Numerous amphibian, reptile, and mammal species;• Vast array of plant species

King rail (Rallus elegens)

Photos: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Digital Library System, http://images.fws.gov

Rattle snake (Sisustrus catenatus)

Spiny softshell (Apalone spinifera)

Least bittern (Ixobrychus exilis)

Yellow lotus (Nelumbo lutea)

St. Clair wetland wildlife habitat

Photos: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, http://www.birds.cornell.edu/

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

Canvasback (Aythya valisineria )

Redhead (Aythya americana )

Northern shoveler (Anas clypeata )

Canada goose

(Branta canadiensis)

Stressors to the St. Clair wetland ecosystem

• Lake processes: long- and short-term water level fluctuations, waves, wind tides, ice scour;

• Direct wetland loss and degradation;• Invasive plant and animal species;

Mute swan (Cugnus olor)Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)

Source: http://www.glc.org/stclair/

Lake St. Clair annual water levels 1918-1990

Photos: http://www.great-lakes.net/envt/flora-fauna/invasive

Stressors to the St. Clair Delta wetland ecosystem

• Risk of chemical and fuel spills

Source: http://www.glc.org/stclair/

0 10

Kilometers

20

3 3

3

3

3

3 3

3

3 3

3 3 3 3

3 3 3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

Hg

> SEL (2.0 mg g-1 dw)

between SEL and LEL

< LEL (0.2 mg g-1 dw)

Source: Szalinska et al., 2007

Stressors to the St. Clair Delta wetland ecosystem

Lake St. Claire

Chenal Ecarte

Joh

nst

on

Ch

ann

el

Goose Lake

Basset C

hannel

Ch

emat

og

anC

han

nel

St.

Cla

ir R

iverMe – LEL exceeded for metal

Hg Cd, Fe, Hg

Hg

Cd, Fe, Hg

Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Ni

Cd, Cu, Hg

Hg

Hg

HgCd, Hg

Cd, Hg

Lake St. Claire

Chenal Ecarte

Joh

nst

on

Ch

ann

el

Goose Lake

Basset C

hannel

Ch

emat

og

anC

han

nel

St.

Cla

ir R

iverMe – LEL exceeded for metal

Hg Cd, Fe, Hg

Hg

Cd, Fe, Hg

Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Ni

Cd, Cu, Hg

Hg

Hg

HgCd, Hg

Cd, Hg

Lake St. Claire

Chenal Ecarte

Joh

nst

on

Ch

ann

el

Goose Lake

Basset C

hannel

Ch

emat

og

anC

han

nel

St.

Cla

ir R

iverLEL exceeded for HCB

LEL exceeded for pp’-DDT

Lake St. Claire

Chenal Ecarte

Joh

nst

on

Ch

ann

el

Goose Lake

Basset C

hannel

Ch

emat

og

anC

han

nel

St.

Cla

ir R

iverLEL exceeded for HCB

LEL exceeded for pp’-DDT

Lake St. Claire

Chenal Ecarte

Joh

nst

on

Ch

ann

el

Goose Lake

Basset C

hannel

Ch

emat

og

anC

han

nel

St.

Cla

ir R

iverLEL exceeded for HCB

LEL exceeded for pp’-DDT

LEL exceeded for HCB

LEL exceeded for pp’-DDT

Source: GLIER 2005

References• Dugan (ed.) 1993. Wetlands in danger. A world conservation atlas. Oxford

University Press. • GLIER 2005. Benthos and chemistry studies on the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers.

Report Prepared by the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research & Department of Biological Sciences, University of Windsor for the Great Lakes Sustainability Fund, Windsor, Canada.

• Thomas et al. 2006. Formation of the St. Clair River Delta in the Laurentian Great Lakes system. J. Great Lakes Res. 32:738-748.

• Tiner 1999. Wetland indicators. A guide to wetland identification, delineation, classification and mapping. Lewis Publishers.

• Szalinska et al. 2007. Metals in the sediments of the Huron-Erie Corridor (North America): factors regulating distribution and mobilization. Lakes & Reservoirs: Research and Management, 12:217-236.

• USACE 2005. St. Clair River and Lake St. Clair Comprehensive Management Plan, June 2004. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District

• http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov, Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center, "The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth"

• http://www.birds.cornell.edu/, Cornell Lab of Ornithology• http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetland• http://images.fws.gov, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Digital Library System• http://www.ramsar.org